The Rye baseball team is two wins away from its first New York state title.
The Garnets play Pittsford Mendon at 1 p.m. Friday in the Class A state semifinals at Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton. With a win, Rye will play Sayville or Maine-Endwell in the championship game, 1 p.m. Saturday at SUNY Binghamton.
This is the furthest the program has advanced since a state runner-up finish in 2014. Each of the Garnets’ past two seasons ended in the section tournament, so this year’s team, and especially the seniors, appreciate the opportunity to continue playing into the postseason’s final weekend.
“To be able to compete for the state championship in my last season is a dream come true,” said senior pitcher Jack Sheridan. “I’ve been a part of some very heartbreaking losses to end our seasons the past couple of years, but to have a chance to end up on top is an opportunity I can’t look past.”
To earn Friday’s matchup against Pittsford Mendon, the Section 5 champions, the Garnets first had to rally to beat La Salle, the Section 2 champions, 6-4 on Sunday in Troy. La Salle loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning, but junior Diego Mosquera made a game-saving catch to preserve the quarterfinal win.
La Salle led 4-1 after three innings, but Rye took the lead for good in the top of the fourth. The Garnets scored four runs on singles by juniors Harry Ellis and Jamie Morris, an RBI groundout by senior Vincent Sculti, and a La Salle error.
“We have been down early, really early, before,” said Rye coach Mike Bruno. “4-0 to Nanuet in the first inning (before rallying to win a section tournament elimination game), so the team still had a calm and confident mindset down 4-1 in the fourth.”
Sophomore Luke Ontaneda finished his 3-for-4 day at the plate by driving in an insurance run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-4.
Senior pitcher Peter Davies earned the win, pitching three shutout innings after throwing a no-hitter in Rye’s section championship win a week earlier. Sheridan started the game and pitched the first three-plus innings, allowing four runs, although none of them were earned. Another senior, Charlie Rupp, got the game’s final out for the save.
“The pitching has been the main reason we’ve been successful,” Bruno said. “Peter Davies, Jack Sheridan, Clayton McCarthy, and Charlie Rupp have carried us through this entire playoff run.”
Rye has only lost once in its past 21 games, a section tournament setback against Panas. The Garnets responded by beating the Panthers twice in one day to win the Section 1 title, then eliminated La Salle in the regional final.
Now, the goal is to come home from Binghamton with a state championship as well.
“To win my first section championship and bring back the first one in 11 years was a dream come true,” Rupp said. “There is still history to be made in the weekend ahead, and the opportunity to bring a state championship back to Rye is nothing short of amazing.”
